Could be the worst flu season

If you received a flu shot this year, it may not protect you from contracting the potentially deadly disease.

The flu virus is spread through droplets of saliva and mucus from the nose and mouth of someone who coughs or sneezes.

In just the last week, 182 cases were reported.

"But we can not say we will go on to experience the kind of severe season Australia had, in part because we ourselves had a fairly severe epidemic due to H3N2 in 2016-17", Skowronski said.

Vermont Health Department officials say they're starting to see cases of the flu early in the season.

Mary Anderson, manager of infection control at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill., told the Chicago Tribune that the flu is more serious than the common cold, and this year's H3N2 virus is cause for concern.

In its December 1 weekly flu report, the CDC changed the state's activity rating from "regional" to "widespread", the worst rating among states so far this year.

'Some of the early assessments of the vaccine from the Australia epidemic in their winter, our summer, suggest about a 10 percent vaccine efficacy which would then mean it was 10 percent effective in preventing the disease'.

When does the flu season begin this year?

This possibility underscores the need to strive toward a "universal" influenza vaccine that will protect against seasonal influenza drift variants as well as potential pandemic strains, with better durability than current annual vaccines. Flu shots are available through your health care provider or through the flu clinic at the Coconino County Public Health Services District.

It seems like everyone is catching a case of the sniffles or worse, as the start of flu season is upon us.

The flu vaccine is recommended for just about everyone 6 months of age and older, but pregnant women, the elderly and people with chronic illness are especially vulnerable to the illness. In this regard, the CDC estimates that influenza vaccination averted 40,000 deaths in the United States between the 2005-2006 and 2013-2014 seasons.

If you do get flu, keep it to yourself, Mills said. The peak infection period of Influenza illness in New England occurs between January and February, though it can last as late as May.

"10 percent effective? That doesn't make me feel very secure about her getting a flu shot", said Edith Enriquez, who got her flu shot.

Researchers found antibodies elicited by the vaccine in ferrets and humans "did a poor job of neutralizing H3N2 viruses that circulated last year".

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